NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

BLACKBERRY EDITION

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

INCIDENTS

Eastern Areas

Recovery Efforts Begin Following Katrina's Passage

The National Park Service is in the process of mobilizing people and resources to aid those parks that suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina. The following report is based on two sources of information - a report submitted yesterday evening by Nancy Gray, information officer for the incident management team (IMT) at Everglades, and a Tuesday morning conference call that included representatives from affected parks, members of incident management teams, Southeast Regional Office senior staff, Washington Office staff, and others. This summary is brief and by no means definitive. Additional reports will appear in these pages as they arrive:

Everglades NP/Dry Tortugas NP

The Service's Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) arrived at the park on Monday evening. The Type II team met with park officials on Tuesday and spent the day touring impacted areas, particularly the Flamingo area of the Park, 40 miles southwest of the Headquarters/Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center. Currently, most of the park remains closed, with the exception of the Coe Visitor Center and the Gulf Coast Visitor Center at Everglades City near Naples. Backcountry camping along the inland wilderness water route which runs between Flamingo and Everglades City is also closed at this time. Facilities will remain closed to the public until detailed assessments of building, property and resource damage can be made. Preliminary assessments of storm damage to the Flamingo area show severe damage to concessions facilities, including concessioner employee housing. Park employees living in park housing in Flamingo were temporarily displaced because of high water which inundated the lower level of the structures. Heavy debris is strewn throughout the area from this flooding episode. In addition, over ten government vehicles and five personal vehicles were destroyed by the storm surge, estimated to have been over five feet.

Initial damage assessments of Dry Tortugas National Park, a cluster of islands 70 miles west of Key West, are also indicating varying levels of structural damage to the fortress, housing units, docks, a maintenance boat, utilities and loss of the communications tower. Team members are expected to tour the island in the near future. Priority will be given to restoring reliable communications to the island and supporting staff to provide necessary resources to reopen the area to public use.

Park staff has been working consistently since the storm to clear debris and take immediate remedial action as appropriate. The IMT will continue working with park employees, and a hand crew is being ordered and assigned to Flamingo to help clear the grounds of debris and downed trees and make repairs to the sewer system and employee housing units. A critical incident stress management team will arrive in the park today to provide employee assistance.

The park will continue to identify the necessary cultural and natural resource damage assessments that are needed to understand the impacts of the storm to the resources.

Gulf Islands NS

The Mississippi District was reported to have been “devastated” by the hurricane. Ship and Horn Islands suffered extensive damage. The access road to headquarters is covered with hundreds of trees. Damage to the headquarters visitor center is extensive. Power and phones are out. Park staff are working hard to contact all employees. At the time of the report, about half had been contacted.

Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP

Outlying areas of Jean Lafitte were largely undamaged by the storm, but there are concerns about the impacts to historic structures and other facilities in downtown New Orleans. As of yesterday morning, no one had been able to get back into the city to assess the hurricane's impacts. As with other parks, the primary effort at present is on contacting employees and assuring that they are okay.

Natchez Trace Parkway

The park is dealing with widespread power and phone outages. Incoming phone calls can be received, but outgoing calls can't be made. The park's radio system is intact, however, so internal communications have been unimpeded. All employees are accounted for. The section of the parkway from MP 105 to MP 208 remains closed.

Cane River Creole NHP

No significant damage was reported. A few limbs fell in the park.

Natchez NHP

Power was reported out, but generators were being used to fill most needs. Only minor damage occurred.

Staff in the Southeast Regional Office are currently involved in an intensive effort to complete a comprehensive assessment of damage throughout the region in order to determine which areas need what resources. Three incident management teams - a second Eastern IMT (Rick Brown, IC), the Pacific West IMT (Denny Ziemann, IC), and the national IMT (J.D. Swed, IC) - are all on standby in case one or more teams are needed.

American Memorial Park

Typhoon Nabi Threatens Park

Typhoon Nabi is headed for the Marianas Islands. At the time of the report yesterday, the center of the typhoon was located 110 miles directly east of Saipan and was moving west at 14 mph. It was a Category I typhoon, with sustained winds around 75 mph and gusts to 100 mph. The eye was projected to come within 30 miles south of the island of Saipan. The projected time of closest approach was 10 a.m. on August 31st, local time (5 p.m., August 30th, Pacfic Daylight Time). The commonwealth government had already declared Typhoon Condition 1. The low pressure system was only identified two days ago and rapidly formed into a typhoon, catching many people by surprise. [Chuck Sayon]

Rocky Mountain NP

Search Continues for Missing Hiker

Park staff continued their search yesterday for H.B.-A., 45, of Austin, Texas, who was last seen near the summit of Fairchild Mountain in the Mummy Range at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 28th. H.B.-A. was hiking ahead of his brother, who saw him on the mountain's summit at that time. When his brother reached the summit, though, H.B.-A. was not there. Park dispatch received a phone call from H.B.-A. around 4:30 p.m., then again about 30 minutes later. H.B.-A. said that he was lost. He mentioned that he'd traveled by three lakes and was told by a ranger to return to the last lake that he'd passed. H.B.-A. confirmed that he'd heard the instructions shortly before the cell phone signal was lost. It appears that another call was made from his cell phone around 10:20 p.m. that night, but its unknown if a connection was made. The search began on Sunday evening and continued into Monday, with rangers and other park staff searching near lakes, trails and drainages in the Mummy Range. A helicopter was also utilized to assist with search efforts. Approximately 70 people, two dog teams and two helicopters, including one with thermal imaging capabilities, were committed to the search yesterday. Larimer County Search and Rescue, Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and Alpine Rescue assisted. The Mummy Range is a remote, high altitude, rugged area which includes Fairchild Mountain, Mount Chapin, Mount Chiquita, Ypsilon Mountain and other prominent peaks. There are few designated trails in the area and hiking mainly occurs cross country. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]

Grand Canyon NP

Teenager Falls to Death from North Rim

On August 17th, a 16-year-old boy accidentally fell to his death at a developed and fenced viewpoint near the Walhalla Overlook. The victim was traveling with his family when they stopped at the overlook to view the Grand Canyon from the North Rim. The boy ran ahead of his parents toward the overlook, which was 260 feet away. When the parents arrived, he was nowhere to be seen and did not respond to their shouts. The parents then called for ranger assistance via their ON-STAR system. The responding rangers found and recovered the body of the boy 100 feet directly below the overlook. The body was recovered by one of the park's contract helicopters via the long-line short-haul system. (Mark C. McCutcheon, North District Ranger)

FIRE MANAGEMENT

NIFC remains at PL 3. An area command team, three Type 1 and two state IMT's, a planning team, and five logistics management teams have been committed to the Hurricane Katrina relief operation.

Individual fire entries for today for the National Park Service can be obtained at HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/fire/news" http://www.nps.gov/fire/news . The full NIFC Incident Management Situation Report for today can be obtained at HYPERLINK "http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf" http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Servicewide

Hurricane Support for Southeast Region

The National Park Service is in the process of compiling a list of maintenance workers who would be available for dispatch to hurricane recovery operations in Southeast Region. If you have employees available, please send a message to that effect to the Emergency Incident Coordination Center at Shenandoah NP (email: SHEN EICC). Please specify the names and titles of employees, provide their work and after-hour phone numbers, and provide information on the following:

Whether they have government charge chards and can be self-sufficient

Whether the are prepared to operate out of spike camps (have sleeping bags, tents and other basic support items)

What their qualifications are and whether they can travel with their equipment

Whether they have transportation, and, if so, what kind

If you have any questions, please contact the center at 540-999-3412. [Karen Gochenour, SHEN EICC]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Nothing today.

JOBS

Biscayne National Park

GS-0025-12 Chief Ranger

The person selected for this position will serve as the park's chief ranger and will be one of six principal assistants to the superintendent and assistant superintendent. The chief ranger manages law enforcement, natural and cultural resource protection, emergency medical services, search and rescue, physical fitness, physical security, special park uses, structural and wild land fire programs, fee management, and two campgrounds. This position requires an individual who is self-motivated, can work independently and as part of a team and has strong communication skills. The ability to maintain and create strong, effective partnerships is a crucial skill for this position. She/he must be available to work a flexible schedule (evenings, overtime, Sundays and/or holidays). For the full text of the job announcement, click on “More Information” below. For more information on the position, contact Nancy Sanchez at 305-230-1144 extension 3021 or email her at HYPERLINK "mailto:nancy_sanchez@nps.gov" nancy_sanchez@nps.gov .

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Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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